Car-coupling.



H. T. KRAKAU. GAR COUPLING. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1, 1908.

6 SHEETS*-SHEI IT 1.

. Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

- H. T. KRAKAU. GAR COUPLING. APPLICATION-FILED JUNE 1, 1908.

1,040,551. Patented 0ct.8,1912.

6 SHEETS-$323M.

H. TL'KRAKAU. GAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1,1908.

1,040,551; Patented 0013.8, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

H. T'. KRAKAU.

OAR COUPLING. APPLICATION m JUNE 1, 1908.

1,040,551 v Patented Oct. 8, 19 12.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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H. T.KRAKAU.

I CAR QOUPLING. APPVLIOATION FILED mm; 1

Patented Oct. 8, .1912. V

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view showing the STATES PATENT oFFio HARRY .T. KRAKAU, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, AISSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLE CAQTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A OF OHIO.

GAR-COUiLING.

Specification of Letters Patent. PatefltQdOgtQS, 1912.

Application filed in... 1,1903. .s rlal raegssse. Y Y

To a l whom it may concern:

Be it known that LHARRY T. :KRAKAU, of- Cleveland, in the county of Cuyhhoga, State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Car-Coupler. of which the. following is .a-

specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved coupler; Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section thereof; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section, showing the parts of the coupler in locked position; Fig. 4 is a similar view, showing the parts of the coupler lock-set; Fig.. 5 is a vertical cross section illustrating the parts in theposition which they occupy-yelled the knuckle is thrown fully open; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the lock; Fig. 8 is fl'OlIhfilEVfLtlOI! of the knuckle-throwing piece; Fig. 9 is a side elevation; Fig. -10 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the knuckle; Fig. 12 is a vertical cross section, illustrating a modified co'nsthuction of the device; Fig. 13 is an elevation of the lock used in the coupler of Fig. 12; Fig. 14 is a detail view showing the operatihn of the lock in closing the. knuckle; Fig. 15 is a sectional g preterred construction of the coupler casting.

The great increase in the weight of cars and length of trains which has come about in recent years has resulted in putting very severe strains-upon the parts of car cou-' plers, which causes frequent breakage of the parts. .This evil has become -a very serious one, and it is the purpose of my invention to meet it by providing a car coupler whose parts are so constructed 'that they will resist successfully the external strains" to which they are put in use. I accomplish this desirable purpose, notwithstanding the ditficult-ies created by service conditions and hythe necessity that all new couplers must cooperate with, couplers already in use.

' Referring to the drawings which illustrate the invention in what I deem to he its preferable form, 2 represents the coupler-head, which has twin jaws. and?! is the knuckle which is pivoted to the coupler head, preterahly by a pivot pin 54's the vertically h s. lock which op- .tends from top to botthrn' of the coupler head, as shown in Fig. 3. .1 The knuckle -3"has a arearwardly-extendr surface 7 on the interior "of the coupler head and to be held by the lock positively against the same. This lock, which moves vertically,

is of wedge shape, havingdownwardly' converging sides 5, so that as it tends to descend by gravity 'and"d0es not engage any .stop or support on the 'couplershead even ,rvheuit .is in its lowest position it becomes closely wedged in the recess between the coupler head andthe forward side of the knuckle tail, and holding the knuckle tail firmly against the bearing surface 7. as

erates through a recess in the coupler head Y and preferably, when in locked position,'ex-

above described, prevents loose lateral motion there0f. By-reason of the downwardly-converging sidesof the lock and the longitudinally inclined surfaces 6 and 7 the knuckle is drawn slightly rearwardly when ,locked by the lateral pressure of the ,lock which presses the surfacesfi and T to- .gether. The combined action of the co- ,acting ,wed'ging and head and'of the knuckle tail and lock faces of .the knuckle tai-l results in holding the knuckle rigidly against its bearings infl thealiead, the hub bearings 3* being drawntightlyback againstthe correspondin and co acting bearing surfaces on the hea In thislocked'posit-ion,

the knuckle forms a practically integral part? ofthe coupler head, so' f'ar as any looseness or n ovenient in' its locked'position {is concerned. The' pivotpinhole in thehub "of' the knuckle is provided with sufficient clearance at the rear of the pivotpin to give.

freedomfor the knucklein its opening and closing movements. It will be seen that any wear or deflection of the bearing surfaces of the pin and pin hole will'notprevent a tight "locking of the knuckle fort-he wedge lock, and the inclined surfaces (land 7 \villautomatically take up any looseness which develops. The Iockin of the knuckle tail between the lock and the surface 7 and the wideningof the distances between the beariug'faces of the tail" toward its rear end-removes all-longitudinal strains from the pivot pin and puts the stress of pulling upon the tail of the knuckle behind the pivot pin and the ears of the coupler, a'ud relieves th' pivot pin even initially from the pulling strain. It is. therefore immaterial! whether the standard pin is used or not. If the pin breaks the'pulling capacity of the coupler is, not diminished nor the position of the knuckle altered, and my coupler has important and novel advantages in this respect.

an intermediate recess 9 in which the end of the opening piece extends during the operationof the latter. Referring to the pro-" jecting toe 5", Fig. 5 shows the parts with the knuckle thrown completely open and the lifting strain still exerted onthe lock, which is pulled over to the knuckle side of the coupler head, as far as 'the opening in thetop wall will permit. When.the lifting strain is released, the lmucklestflhremaining in open position,- as shown'in Fig.6,

the lock will drop until its lowerhori-zontal face at the baseof the lug '9 and .adjacentto the toe 5" rests upon the upper surface of;

the knuckle tail. The toe 5. then projects downwardly below the uppe'n surface .of the knuckle tail and occupies the space back of the rear end of the knuckle tail and between the knuckle and the locking face of the coupler head, as shown in Fig? 6. --In-this position,- as the back of the lock isheldfrom moving rearwardly by the rear surface of i the look within it when the-lock is partiallythe hole'in'lthe top of the coupler head, the

lock-can. not..;move laterallytoward the. knuckle'side of the coupler into an abnormal "position. jThe-hole the-top of the coupler h eadisjlargerthan that portion of raised, a'ndwereit not for the toeifigthe" lock mightaccidentally'be-brought into abnormal position. onthe wrong side of the knuckle tail. In such case, when the knuc-' kle was closed, theibottom ofthe lock, which would be resting:o 1'i-the"upper surface of the .tail, mightfmove"laterallywith it andcome into a cramped position, where it would not. drop into locki g; position, except for this,

toe."

. 'l-heopenihg' piece-10 is'of angular shape,

as shown -in"Fig.-;'3 and in Figs." 8, 9and-10, and hasia downwardl fprojecting opening membe'f ltl a, orwardly projecting member 10 which terminates in a portion l0 adapted rate with the parts 9' and -9 in lock-setting andopening. Thisl lock-setting andfopefun'g member has a iaterally projecting lug 10 which fits within an inclined guide recess'll in the interior of the' coupler, and permits slight vertical bodily motion of the opening piece and prevents its displacement.

When' the coupler is locked, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the lock s between the tail of the knuckle and the w'llof the coupler head, and the opening piece 10 extends back of and over the coupler knuckle, its '.portion 10 projecting in the path of the lug 9. If it be desired to unlock the coupler and to put the lock in lock-set osition, the lock is raised by a suitable lif in other device, connected to it y an eye or projection 9 engages the under surface of the portion 10 of the opening member, and will draw the shoulder 9 on the lock laterally into engagement with the topcf 111s portion 10, which willsupport the lock in lock-set position, leaving the knuckle free to be 'swungopen by the parting of the cars. If the car-is mt coupled 'to another car and it is desired to throw the knuckle open into coupling position, tlie lock 5 is-lifted to the extreme of its upward movement. This brings the lug 9 on the look into. engagement with, the member 10 of the'opening device in I ig. 5, the lug 10 moving upwardly in a rolling action upon-the upper surface 14; of-the coupler head, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Bygthls means the lower member 10-of swings the knuckle into openposition, as shown in Fig.5. By reason of the rolling action above mentioned, the lower end of the member 10 operates on the knuckle with 'a. rolling'-' action,-'so that the points of contact are constantly shifting as the knuckle is moved-open and the end of em pa'rt moves horizontally-without any simultaneous vertical=,.movem'ent. The inemberlO therefore also operates on the pi'ojection9with a rolling action.'- This prevents friction at these points and renders the motion easy.

the substantial construction of the lock and the broadbearing surfaces which thej lock ht'lsi'against thetail of the knuckle and the OPPQS mg SUI'fECQ of the draw head. The bearing faces of the lock-on the draw-head, the-knuckle on the lockand the knuckle on 'thesurface 7 of the draw-head are equal in areigso that thepulling strains are distribknucklean on bothsidesof the lock, thus providing no superfluous bearing surfaces, nor any which-are relatively inadequate.

connecting device 13, so that the inclined' loand causesthis deviceto tilt, as shown merelyj pushes the fknuckle open without tendency to slide-thereon. The member 10" lever 12 or the recess 11 and. the member 10 tilting with the opening device is swung forwardly, asshown. in Fig. 5, and engaging a projection 3 on the'rear of'the tail of the knuckle,

An important feature of thejinvention is uted over. e ualsurfaces on both sides of the The lines of a horizontal section through the bearing surfaces of the lock on opposite sides thereof are parallel, and the strains are transmitted directly across its body and the surfaces are substantially in the center line of draft, that is, halfthis area is above and.

half below. that line. This makes the hearing substantial and firm and prevents inits longer dimension in a direction nearly at rightangles to its bearing surfaces. The

bearing surface of the lock on the knuckle is at rightanglcs to the line of movement of the knuckle-tail, and any wear or loosening of the knuckle-tail will notdecrcase the locking surface of the knuckle, for the lock, by reason of its wedge shape, will drop and compensate for. such loosening. 1f the knuckle should wear at, its rear bearing 6, the wedge-shape of the lock, by forcing the tail rearwardly so as to keep the surfaces 6 and 7 in contact will. take up the wear and will tend to close the outer end of the knuckle inwardly.

In order to permit the insertion of the lock-(with, its projecting portions 9, 9, into the coupler head, it is necessary that the 'hole at the top of the coupler should be somewhat large, and to prevent dirt and gravel or portions of the burden of the car from entering the recess thus afforded I provide the lock at its upper portion with a lateral projection 15, which, when the lock is down in locked. position, fills the enlarged hole and affords a substantially closed construction to the top of the coupler, as shown in Fig. l. The lock and knuckle are assembled in the coupler head without difficulty, the lock being tipped as it is inserted into the hole in thetop of the coupler head, as will be apparent to; those skilled in the To guide the opening piece during its forward motion I prefer to provide a forwardly extending curved groove lG at the base-of the coupler head, as shown in Fig. 2, and I bevel. the forward side of the opening device, as shown in this figure, in order to conform to the inclined surface of the rear of the knuckle to which it is opposed. I also provide the knuckle with a projection or shelf 3* at the upper portion of the rear end of the tail, which operatesto support the look when the knuckle is in the open po sition shown in Fig. 6. r

An important feature of the invention is the function of the lock in closing the knuckle. Not only is the lock made of a slight vertical wedge shape so that the lock will settle by gravity into a position to keep the knuckle tail tight in its bearings, but there is a steep incline bat the base of the lock which engages the forward and upper surfaces of the knuckle tail so that when the knuckle is only partially closed and the coupler knuckle is left free to more, the lock, hyvirtue of its own weight, will close the knuckle and lock the coupler, as shown in detail in Fig. 1 Heretofore it has been being narrower than the top, the coupler will securely lock with the knuckle lIl varying positions, and the knuckle need only be partially closed toenable its own lock to close it completely, independent of any action of the knuckle upon the opposing coupler.

I preferably provide the coupler with vertical ribs l7 tying the horizontal ribs 17 of the guard arm at their middle points so as to revent distortion of the horizontal ribs when blows are received upon the end of the guard arm. These ribs are not tied to the vertical wall 17 of the guard arm but have aspace 18 between, so that there is no tendency to create a breaking point in the guard arm. The vertical ribs merely hold the horizontal ribs together at their outer edges.

The knuckle tail is preferably made in such vertical section from its point of junction with the hub of the knuckle to its point of bearing against the lock, that it will withstand as much strain as the hub of the knuckle itself would withstand if there were no pin hole. This puts theburden ofstrain upon the hub of the knuckle which is restricted in dimensions by the necessities of operation with old couplers rather than any new design. The hub can be increased in strength by reducing the size of the pin, which is practicable in this coupler because the pin is merely for pivotal purposes and carries none of the strains of pulling. The section of the knuckle tail alfords an unusual depth for locking surface which is greatly needed on account of the increased strains put upon the coupler, strains often in excess of the compressive limit of the material when confined to ordinary small locking surfaces.

In the modification of my invention shown in Figs. 12 and 13 I adapt the coupler to 'beused with knuckle opening devices which operate from below, in these figures the lock 5 isiuclosed within the coupler head, the roof of thecoupler head 2 being unperforated. The locking portion of the lock conforms in shape to the locks shown iu'the, other figures, and has parts 9 and 9 which? correspond to theparts 9, 9 above described. It has extending from its lower end a stem 19 terminating at its base preferably in a T-shaped head 19, adapted to be engaged by the lock-lifting crank 20. ()n turning this cran-k,"which is operated at the side of the car,- the lock is'raised and the couplers can be successfully brought into lock-setting and opening po'sitions as described above. In Fig. 12 theparts are shown by full lines in locked position, and by dotted lines in lock-set posit-ion. \IVhen in these positions the opening piece 1O is supported by its rib resting on the top of the knuckle tail.

' This opening piece 1O has members 10 and 1O corresponding to the members 10 and 1m which I have described above. These figures also show the knuckle 3, the projection 3 the coupler surface 14F, the in. cline b, the toe 5, the ribs 17, and the parts 9"-, 9*, 16, which correspond to the parts 3, 3*, 14:, Z), 5, 17*, 9, 9, 16, already described. This construction permits a somewhat modilied form of the opening piece, and its for ward end can be extended downwardly from the intermediate member thereof.

Many modifications of the invention in respect of the, form and arrangement of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art, since "lVhat I claim is:

1. In a car coupler, a coupler head, a knuckle having atail, a pivot pin and a lock, said head being provided with a bean ing surface cooperating with a bearing surface on the knuckle to limit the rearward movement thereof when it has been moved to such a position as to take the strain off the pivot pin, and means for so moving said knuckle and maintaining itin such position in spite of looseness or wear of said bearings and irrespective of the amount of looseness or wear at the other'points, such means consisting of a rearwardly-extending out wardly-inclined bearing in the head to the rear of the pivot pin, a correspondingly inclined face on the knuckle tail free when in locked position to coii e'rate at all times with said bearing in the cad. the lock having wedging surfaces engaging wedging surfaces on the coupler head and on the front face of the knuckle tail to maintain said knuckle tail tight against the inclined hearing of its face against the head and thus to draw the knuckle tightly against the bearings limiting its rearward movement, and provision whereby the lock may automatically move from initial locking position to compensate for. looseness or -wear of the parts.

2. In a car coupler, a coupler head, a knuckle, a loosely fitting pivot pin for the knuckle, said head being provided with a bearing surface acting at all times when the parts are in locked position to limit the rear;

ward movement of the knuckle, and means to cause such rearward movement consisting of a rearwardly-extending outwardlyinclined surface in the head with which a corresponding surface on the irrespective of the relative wear or initial variat on of any of the parts or surfaces, and a freely moving gravity lock of wedge knuckle. tail is adapted to cooperate at all timesshape in vertical cross-section engaging the coupler head and the front face of the knuckle tail.-

3. In a car coupler, a coupler head, a knuckle, said head being provided with a bearing surface acting at all times, and irrespective of wear and of relative'amounts of Wear of the various parts, to limit the rearward movcment of the knuckle when the parts are in locked position, and provided also with a rearwar'dly-extending outwardlyinclined beariiigadapted, atall times when the parts are in locked position, and irres ective of wear and the relative amount of' wear of the various parts, tdcoperate with a correspondingbearing on the knuckle tail, t and means for tightening both of said bearings and keeping them tight, such means consisting of a freely moving gravity lock of wedge shape in vertical cross-section engaging the couplerhead and the front face of the knuckle tail. 4. A car coupler having a vertically movable lock, a knuckle, an opening member extending over the knuckle, and a lock "adapted to lockset on the opening member, said lock and member having engaging portions which, coact to movethe lock laterally into lockset position when said surfaces are" brought into engagement by the lifting movement of the lock.

A coupler knuckle, having a tail with.

a bearing surface to engage the lock, and

another bearing surface to engage the-coupler-head to resist the movement of the knuckle under pulling strains, the elastic limit of the vertical cross section of the material of the tail with reference to the strains to which it is subjected in pulling be-- ing at least as great as the elastic limit of the vertical cross section of the material through the enceto the in pulling.

6. In a car coupler, a coupler head, a pivotcd knuckle, a swinging knuckle-opening hub of the knuckle with referstrains to which it is subjected" i member, said member having a rolling bear shifting fulcrum whereby the member contacts with the knuckle tail in substantially the same horizontal plane during the opening movement of the knuckle, i

7; In a car coupler, a coupler head, a piving upon the knuc oted knuckle, and aswinging knuckle-open-- kle tail andalso having aing member, said member having a rolling In testimony whereof, I have hereunto bearing upon the knuckle tail, and; also havset my hand. ing a shiftable rocking bearing upon the coupler head, whereby said member contacts with the knuckle tail in substantially Witnesses: the same horizontal plane duringthe open,- -ANNA E.,W\ALLAGE, ing movement of the knuckle. FREDERICK H. DAVIS.

Copies 'of this patent may be obtained for .five cents each, by afidressin the Gommissionei-ot Patents,

I Weshington,I). 0.

HARRY T. RAKAU. 

